FLASHBACK to 1997... "Holmes vs. Mo Harris." Close, but no robbery..

By smallish I meant he was only around the 200-10 pound mark around the time of the Holmes fight which is small by modern standards, although he's filled out a lot since.

His chin wasn't the best either and he's been on the end of some brutal KO's (I remember the Derek Jefferson KO in particular) but he scored some big upsets as well.

He schooled Jeremy Williams,beat David Izon and upset Liakhovich so he sure was a gate keeper for a while there.

 

Here's Jefferson nearly taking Harris' head off.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmswbDd4CeM&feature=player_detailpage[/ame]


Poor Mo:-(

 

Holmes gained too much weight in his later comeback fights. He didn't have the plodding strength or punching power of a Foreman, so it was basically detrimental for him to come into the ring so heavy. He relied more on speed and timing, two things negatively impacted by excess weight.

 

I thought Harris shaded the fight. I can't see Larry doing any better than a draw. I also thought Navarre shaded Holmes as well. But for every guy that gets the nod with close decisions, there is a guy who rarely does, like say a Fres Oquendo. A real fine line and so much rides on which side a guy is on.

 

Holmes would look crappy against Navarre, Ferguson, and Donald, yet come out and say how all the contenders were pretenders and how the champs didn't want to fight him. :huh

 

Yep. Then again he did that his whole career. Then, King gives him a very winnable fight against McCall and that was Larry's fight to win. He now has the distinction of losing his last 5 title fights. That hardly sounds like a guy not given opportunities, does it?